FROME Town Crier, Mike Bishop, officially stepped down from his role following the recent Remembrance Sunday service, putting an end to 17 years of unwavering service to the town.
Mike became the town crier of Frome on Easter Saturday in April 2006, taking part in his first town crier competition two days later at the Mells Daffodil Day. Mike has been supported by his wife Angie at the various events throughout this time. The couple also organised and ran Town Crier festivals, which attracted town criers from across the country to compete in Frome.
Mike was presented with a Mayor’s Civic Award at a meeting of the full town council on Wednesday 15th November and an exhibition of some of the many events that Mike has attended over the years can be found at the Frome Town Hall.
Angie and Mike were both thanked at the meeting by Frome Mayor, cllr Philip Campagna who said, “Frome is rightly proud of our town crier and it’s thanks to Mike’s hard work and commitment that made Frome’s town crier festival such a success, keeping the ancient tradition of town criers alive for future generations. Thank you to Mike and Angie from all of us at Frome Town Council and the very best wishes for your retirement.”
Upon receiving his award, Mike said, “I’d like to say a big thank you for this award, it does mean a lot to me. It’s been hard to make the decision to step down but as I said in the Frome Times previously, activities have dwindled for the role and hopefully this town will be getting a new crier to fill my shoes as I’d hate to see the tradition stop. It’s been a fantastic 17 years and I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I have.”
Mike belongs to the Ancient and Honourable Guild of Town Criers, and has served as membership secretary for a period of his time and also as the guild’s standard bearer. As standard bearer, Mike represented Frome at competitions held in the UK, partaking in up to 25 a year.
Mike also represented Frome twice in Europe, at Amelo in the Netherlands and Ninove in Belgium. This year, Mike and Angie have attended ten town crier competitions across England, from Bromyard in Herefordshire to Hatherleigh in Devon.
Mike joked, “We both hoped that we wouldn’t win any trophies this year so as not to have to return them, but we amassed seven trophies for best dressed consort, best dressed couple and a third place in the cry competition. One best dressed couple, at the South of England Championship at Wareham, was won for a record fourth time.”
In the past, Mike and Angie have attended lots of events in and around our town, as well as travelling, at their own expense, to represent Frome in all the competitions. However, for the last few years, the events they have attended in Frome have dwindled; this year to just two – the carnival and the Remembrance Service.
As a result, Mike took the hard decision to hang up his bell following his favourite job as town crier – the Remembrance Day parade and service. Mike says, “We took this hard decision mainly due to seeing other town criers retire when they are no longer mobile – we don’t want this, as we have plenty left to see!”
